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Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation.

P.S. The greatest value of this blog lies in the comment section where bloggers in all phases of the blogging journey open up and share their thoughts. Click on the post title to experience the full effect of each lesson.

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I recently watched a video named “Owned and Operated” on the Crackin Films site.

In a nutshell, it’s a movie about how the world is changing and not necessarily for the better. The film goes on to show how we, as citizens can make a difference if we choose to.

After watching the movie I shared a link to it on Facebook and included a note that the film contains profanity.

Today’s Lesson

I knew I didn’t have to warn my followers about the profanity in the movie, however I didn’t want anyone to be caught off guard, especially if they decided to watch the film with young children.

But, it’s not just in films we see profanity, we see it in blog posts, comments and in social media sites, too.

With freedom of speech, many of the people who converse online feel it’s okay to swear.

And, it is.

The problem is, some people are offended by curse words.

Since social media and blogs aren’t rated or categorized according to content, what’s shared online is there for anyone to see or read.

We can’t protect people from what they might find online, but as blog authors and members of social media sites, we can post a warning to alert our friends or visitors of profanity or potentially offensive language or images.

We can, but…is that really necessary?

Today’s Assignment

Do you think it’s our job to warn our friends, followers and/or visitors about profanity and/or offensive language or images on sites we own or link to?

I generally prefer not to share to share material or links that others might find offensive. It’s not necessarily to protect the sensitivities of others. I just don’t publish or share material that I don’t feel comfortable with personally.

That being said, on my civil war blog, I have a disclaimer in the sidebar about offensive terms and topics that may appear in material originally written in the 1860s, that today would be considered to be extremely racist:

“Content Disclaimer.

“Some posts include terms and topics that may be offensive to many today. No attempt will be made to censor or edit 19th century material to today’s standards.”

I agree with Mike. I won’t publish anything I don’t feel comfortable with myself. For the most part, the world has become so overly-sensitive to every little thing, you can’t make a harmless joke without someone being offended somewhere.

Don’t like what you’re reading? Stop reading and move on. No reason to take it so personally and get angry at the blogger. They didn’t do it just to target you…unless the blogger is the kind of writer who deliberately pushes buttons for the sake of being “outrageous”. Then why are you complaining if you already know to expect that?

To answer your question, no, it’s not our job. It’s up to others to use their common sense and think for themselves.

It all depends on context to me. I don’t use swear words often in real life and, most of the time, if they need to be in one of my posts for whatever reason I will censor the word by putting an asterisk in place of a vowel.

I think it’s considerate to warn regular viewers or readers when objectionable content is present on a post or in a link. It all depends on your audience too though.

I honestly feel that everything revolves around personal preference. No matter what road you take you’ll end up offending someone for something. I should write about my IKEA hotdog incident…

If you’re about to do something out of the ordinary then sure, take some considerations but inevitably the choice you make is up to you. It becomes part of your blog and people will either learn to accept it or get flustered. Besides, many people have made successful careers around offensive material.

I think a lot depends on the niche & demographics you target. I generally don’t post much that is offensive, but I wouldn’t feel the need to warn anyone if I did. I may slip in the occasional curse word too. These days, if you are online, it is impossible to avoid that kind of stuff. So if you really are that sensitive, you probably shouldn’t be online. That or you should have some kind of filtering software to protect your precious eyes.

Hello,
Of course i think that there should be a way to distinguish posts that have bad words or swearing. This is why there are children surfing the web and i woudn’t allow a underage to read an article that is not suitable for him/her.

I think it all comes down to the audience you are presenting to. If you have an adult audience, I think (unfortunately) that said audience would have no real qualms with being presented with possibly offensive content. I mean really, show me a place online or even on television that doesn’t show gratuitous violence or sex. However, if your audience does include younger or more sensitive eyeballs and earballs, I think you should give them a heads-up to be courteous to them.

I know what you’re saying. It’s really no different than what we see on TV/movies. Although parents can monitor what their children are exposed to at home, who’s to say when they’re not at home, they don’t get an ear or eye full elsewhere.

Barbara, if I read an offensive word or phrase in a blog I immediately click away from that post. Since I never write words that could be offensive, I don’t need to forewarn readers that they are forthcoming.

I think it is the generations that pick up on the offensive language. I tend being younger to find it acceptable to have swear words in the posts or hear it on the radio and i think nothing of it. I think when they try to bleep it out on the radio it brings more attention to the word. I think older generations when the words were not said as much, that is who it offends. But then there are those who were around during the world wars that use derogatory terms for japanese and african americans. The older generations that I have been around have no problem saying those words but the simple swear words as I like to call them they are offended by.

I absolutely agree, Barbara that any posts that might be considered offensive should come with a warning. On the topic of profanity, I sometimes feel that people use it only for effect or out of habit, to the point that it takes away from their original message.

Hi Barbara, I see that most commenters agree on what should be done in terms of your own writing, but few discussed outside sources such as the video that you linked to.

As bloggers the examples we often link to are outside of our control. If the content you’re linking to has the potential to offend your readers then a warning is an elegant step against unwanted surprise. I think you did the right thing.

You’re right. When we link out to other sources, we lose control, so to speak. That said, if our regular readers are not used to reading profanity in our blogs, I think it’s only right we alert them of what they will find if they decide to click on potentially offensive links.

Hi Barbara,
Isn’t it interesting? Everyone commenting stayed with the question you asked and nobody mentioned the video. Like did anyone else besides you and me watch it?

As for your question, I sure do get worn out from all the “politically correct” stuff and all the worries about “offending” people. Anything one says, or write, has the potential to offend SOMEbody SOMEwhere. While I don’t go out of my way to “try” and offend someone, I’m sure it happens. Life is not all lollipops and roses now is it? If people get offended then let them please just walk away, or press delete and go about their day. I don’t want to hear about it! I find their whining about being offended – offensive!
Hugs
SuZen
p.s. What a video!!!

I think linking to other sites necessitates giving some kind of warning of what is ahead. You really never know what could be lurking on the other side of that blue hyperlink text. It is important to give your readers a heads up with where they will be going, and what they are going to see, offensive or not. It’s a trust issue. I’m not clicking on an external link unless I know where it goes. With your own content… well I think that is up to you, and what your readers will want.

True. We never know where a link might take us or if the content will be offensive.

I wonder if sometimes our readers assume a link will take them to an affiliate site so they don’t click, whereas like you said, if we give our readers a heads up, they might be more inclined to check it out.

I personally don’t share any material, links, videos/images that I think might offend other people. But how can we stop others who do it? It’s impossible. Anyway, I agree that there should be a heads up or warning in case of a potential offensive material/content.

I admit it, we have to warn our friends about the dangerous contents. For example, my mom is a newbie to the internet, but since she has got her iPad, she is surfing all the time. But I am always afraid what if she will find something terrible…

I think we definitely have a responsibility to warn our readers about triggering or offensive content on our sites. Of course it’s impossible to be 100% accurate about which things will lead to problems, but we owe our readers to courtesy to at least try.

Those are exactly my thoughts. I totally agree with you! For example, a very popular humorous site with images has a mode called NSFW (not safe for work). That filters out posts with offensive content, but you can remove it if you want. That’s the best i think.

Visitor of different ages, gender and regions visits our sites having different intentions. It is good to warn them about the offensive content if present on the site. So that they could decide whether the information is useful to them or not. It would not only provide better understanding with the visitor but also let them provide better way to recognize which information they would like to have form the site.

That’s true. A warning will place the decision in our reader’s hands – whether they want to click, or not.

I have seen the video, “Thrive” and liked it, as well. With more and more people waking up to what’s really going on in the world. it’s nice to see all of the information neatly compiled in these videos.

Sharing offensive material can be dangerous and good at the same time. It’ll definitely bring you more traffic, but it’ll make you more haters too. I would avoid having this kind of material on my site. But I am a chicken…

Yes definitely, We should warn the people about the offensive material but in the positive way. We should not directly show the offensive content because that may lead to some serious consequences instead we should make it shown in such a way that everyone understands it and thinks positively . If in any case we feel like it can’t be made, the better option is NOT to show the content !!

I have never understood people being offended by curse words, of course if someone is then I will do my best not to swear around them, but I’ve always wondered why the big fuss about an occasional well placed F bomb ?

What I see regarding cursing, is how many in the older generations weren’t raised around it and are thus offended when it’s used. I also note how on most of the TV channels, cursing is not acceptable. Granted, we do see some slip ups, but they’re bleeped out.

I also think it depends who we hang out with – some are more colorful with their language than others.

I think it depends on the type of blog. I blog about network marketing and internet marketing. These are things you can’t even be involved in if you are under 18.

I use a lot of profanity on my blog. So Warning: don’t visit my blog if you are easily offended lol.

Honestly I could care less if people are offended. Profanity is a very powerful thing, these words carry an emotion charge that can be expressed in no other way. I want to hit people on an emotional level.

As far as warning people, that’s not my problem. If you’re that sensitive, then don’t come back. I won’t miss you.

There is a reason film makers and authors use so much profanity. It spices things up, makes stuff a little less boring. On my blog it also polarizes my audience, and that’s a very powerful thing.

You’re right. It does depend on the type of blog we have, as well as how we want to project ourselves and the type of audience we want to attract. Since like normally attracts like, chances are if a blog author uses profanity, their regular readers probably won’t be offended either, and those who are won’t return.

It is polite to warn your readers about offensive content and it totally depends also what kind of blog you are writing.

Personally I see, as probably most of us, lot of offensive content and profanity in daily basis. So if I’m offended about something I just stop watching or reading and move on, or sometimes write a reply to them.
Also many people often take offence of others opinions which doesn’t fit their worldview and so it’s hard to say which content really is offensive. Some basic opinion can be much more offensive than profanity.

I’m sure there can be no generic rule for this.
What is offensive for some people may be, let’s say, funny for others.
Almost anything can offend in a certain context, depending on nationality, religion, personal values, sex, age, social status, etc.

My opinion is that if we will try to think about this all the time, we will end up excusing ourselves for anything we say. And we will all be too boring !

And yes, if we continually worry we might offend someone with what we post, we could end up sounding extremely boring. I think that’s where authenticity comes into play – we have to know we’re not going to please everyone, but those who frequent our blogs are they because they like what we’re sharing.

I am all about free speech and freedom of the press. If you don’t like what you read or hear it is your freedom to not read and not listen. There are a lot of things that I am offended by but I realize that with out different points of view we would not be the country we are today..

One way to avoid this is to avoid being narrow minded. People need to open up their minds and realize that nowadays swearing is just like talking to most people. If you don’t like swearing then don’t swear but you cannot control people who want to, you just can’t control anyone just like that.

It wasn’t too long ago that certian things were considered acceptable that would be considered offensive these days. Some of these things are pretty shocking and maybe we have moved on. However there are terms and words that take things too far and defy basic common sense. For instance I was on a night out in a bar and called my friend an idiot. I was approcahed by a very official looking chap who said I was being offensive to my friend and using profanity in a public place. Get a life is what i say

If I do find offensive language on a site I link to, I’ll let my readers now with “adult language,” but not make a big deal out of it. Given the business topic of my blog, I doubt any kids are reading it. But I can’t act as a censor for my readers — for one thing, I don’t have the time to go through my link list to see that all the pages are OK.

If my website were targeted to kids, then I would definitely take the time to go through the linked sites. In that case, I wouldn’t link to sites that might be offensive to kids.

That’s considerate – to let your readers know the site you’re linking to has adult language. But like you said, it would be hard to monitor all links in our blog.

Case in point. I know a blogger who used to comment on this blog on a regular basis. I didn’t realize he had quit blogging and when I clicked on his links (in the old comments), I found he had turned his blog into an “adult” site.

I think you did the right thing, Barbara. I say that because it was your natural instinct to do so, and you were being respectful. I also agree with Mike and Deb. I won’t share something that I feel uncomfortable with and you can never tell when someone might be offended, even if there is no profanity. If you thought there was something important for people to see in what you shared, then why not share it and then warn them of the profanity, rather than discounting it all together. I don’t consider it our “job” so to speak, but I believe in honouring our own values. And that’s what I see you doing.

It does come down to values, doesn’t it? Whereas some bloggers may not even think of warning their readers, others will. That’s not to say one way is right and the other is wrong; it’s just a different way of sharing content.

I think it is considerate to give a heads up of questionable material whether it is potentially offensive or crude in any way. Of course you don’t want to go to pc however a warning is always nice…what if you were surfing with your kids. They have ratings for movies, does anyone object to those?

True. Movies are ranked, however what we can find on the internet isn’t. Years ago I found a plugin which bloggers could use to let others know their blog was “safe” (kid friendly) but it only worked if they were using a specific search engine (if I remember right).

Hi Barbara
I gave up swearing in Nov 2009 – I wrote an article about it on my blog – http://www.theSarayiahpost.com titled, “Happy New Year – The Final Edition” and which may prove inspirational to some of your readers.

In the name of freedom we sometimes hurt the sentiments of some community and thus it hampers the unity of the society. But bloggers can avoid posting any sensitive issue with disclaimer that cannot be done in social networking sites. I believe people should understand their duties towards society.

I have no problem people expressing their views and exercising their right of free speech until and unless it doesn’t make someone else uncomfortable. Creative doesn’t have to be offensive or vulgar. I don’t think it is necessary to use abusive language to make your point heard. It can always be avoided. People should at least make an effort to minimize such language.

Social networking sites have not differentiated between sensitive and funny issue. We see photo or pages hurting sentiments of one culture or other. I believe that there is no strict monitoring on such sites because most of the things uploaded are faked. I think bloggers need to be very careful in updating post because sometimes certain things is pro to one community while against to other community. Offended things shouldn’t be used because it can affect your loyal readers.

I prefer not to share content with others that includes offensive and abusive language as it could hurt the sensitivity of the readers.i feel its ones own preference of what one would wish to read. If Incase any abusive language is posted then It should come with a warning.So that we can avoid children from accessing such a content online.

I think if we are going to link or point at anything that may contain offensive content, that we should warn people about it because that way we give them the choice of whether they want to go ahead and watch/read/listen to it or not. Otherwise it’s too late.

Sad to say that some of the bloggers are using those vulgar and offensive words without knowing that they have hurt someone elses feelings.I guess as a blogger we should think it twice before saying such rude words and when it comes to dropping a link its not necessary anymore to put a HTML link on the body the website domain would be fine.

If we talk about friends, relatives and our near or dear ones, then we should really warn them about profanity. It is our duty and responsibility as a citizen. Later it is there wish, whether they be courteous enough and take the warning seriously or ignore it.

It is always considerate to have some kind of warning about content if it is offensive, risky, adult or whatever. Obviously in a perfect world we would never have to be subject to things we do not like but we all know it’s just part of life. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean offend at will